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hts ers lyw iliam . 1) Insult.-m4loAt Johnston T.,owro.-., . lrwi*nmym (Continued from Last Week.) CHAPTER II.-On his way to the Gas ton apartment next Sunday Nelson again meets his accidental acquaintance of a few days before, Barbara Bradford. She urges him not to allow the fact of their being acquainted to be known. At the apartment Nelson moots the superintend ent, Wick, and Instinctively dislikes him. In a wall safe he finds a necklace of magnificent pearls, worth a small fortune. Meeting Barbara in the hallway she passes him without recognition. Dining in a restaurant he is conscious of the un pleasant scrutny of a stranger, but a wan whom he had seen before. WiTh treiablig hands I restored the jewels to their hiding place, twice test Ing the knob to make sure tit the combination had set. The unexpected Sight of such a vast fortune In gems had filled me with strange emotions, 'with thoughts so evil I hardly dared admit them to myself. There must bave been nearly half a million dollars' worth of precious stones In that one -casket. The Gaston pearls In them 'selves were a fortune. If only they were minel To every honest man at times come temptations as great as come to any -criminal. No man knows whether or meot he is honest until he has been put 'to the test. I knew I I was tempted, -strongly tempted, to take my great taunt's jewels. What was to hinderl 'The old couple wetre to be absent for 'months. They had left me in charge land had given me their keys and the safe combination. There would he nbundant time for disposing of the jewels before their theft was discov 'ered. With the money they would bring I could satisfy my craving fom adventure. I could travel the world .over. .et, as I look back at it, all the tine I was thinking these thoughts, knew I would not take the jewels. A normal man cannot steal. lEven wheit his desires lead hin to theft, his min points out the folly and his conselenc the wrong. e Resolutely I put the thought of th jewels out of my head-or tried to and stretching myself out on a colic gave myself up to pleasant reverie about my delightful new acquaintanc ithe girl wv'ho lived just across the hal 1f pictured myself finding some way ,winning her conildence and of helpir 'her out of her mysterIous trouble. Ar what If eventually Old Rufus Shnul ,make me his heir? Surely I N'ou need a inae with whomi to asbe t joys of having 1k rt . With y Ions of Blrba't r tiradford bedeck with my grpt-un'ohoestjw fe'll lfls,' V# .Llln choicest jewe, IX fell sep * 'was almost dusk when I w awakened by the arrival of the ( pressman with may trunks. After had receipted for them and had v packed, I suedlenly realized that I u hungry, for I had enten nothing sit breakfast. Hastily I donned r clothes, stopping only to count I 'money. With a week's salary In i pocket and no room rent to pay f severnl months, surely I could affo 1a good dinner to celebrate the char In my fortunes. As I went out I stopped in the low hii to ebat with the telephone g ostensibly to ask her to take any mw sages for me, though I was expectl noine. "You're Mr. Nelson, ain't you?" s asked, eyeing me with curious inter "Yest" I replied, "Mr. Spalding N son. I am occupying the Gaston apa ment while they are away." A ilecker of amusement crossedl 1 face, with just the suggestion 01 "I hope you'll enjoy living here. "Why not?" I replied carelessly. any one calls, any that I will he ht' by ten. Miss-" "Nellie Kelly," she added, As I chatted with her the elevi had descended again, and three sons emerged, one of them being for a sight of whom I had been int tionally loitering. One of the persons with her was plainly mother and the other I tooke to be o1(der sistem'. She resembled Bai stroingly, b~ut there was a wor'ld-wm look in her face, and her beauty s( edi to mae to he imnrrecd by a w sensItive, pasiS~onafte mouth. R1i had no eyes for lher, so absorbed I in the appeiaance of the girl I met In the park. If I had tho her beautiful then, she was ravis now. Ioer raven hair was piled andl caught hack with a great Spri comb. An ermine-trimmned eve coat of brocadle swathed her flj opeining at the front just enoug give ime a glimpse of her bared s neck. Involuntarily imy hand wvel my hat, hut into her eyes car haughty look and one hand wvem her lips for just a second, as 11 were warning me again not to r nize her. I stood there abashie she swept by me to the waiting ii The telephone girl's voice jarre back to muy senses. "I thought you was a friend c Biradfor.'.," she said sarcastienl3 "Sure he is," said the voice o WVick behind mile. "Didn't you the boys telling me he came in ,with. Mlas Biradford?".. .... "Well, what of it?" I answered lamely and(] fled from the house, indig nant at this open prying of the em ployees Into my affairs, yet entirely at a loss. to know how to stop it. How could I tell them I knew Itarlara Bradford, when she had Just cut me dead? Feeling vaguely dissntisfIed with mlly first day iI my new home, I hoard ed a 'hus and rode downtown to a little lFreneh enfe. where my coinrailes ind I hiad been iccustomied to go when we were in fumnls. All about mie were inerry Sunday evening (in ner parties. and I was alone. Ilirge and loller hd gone, and MIss IBrad ford had refused to recognize me. I liurried through my dinner, pid ily -heek. iind wits lenving the resaurant IIeIt II corner 1tble I spied the 'n-.-f.mNed iman whom I had seen in the . 1 O w eveninmgs before. lie l11oied 1p and caught imy glance. ito hlhl. Iuive vamie a strange exprea .41n. .1 14ook of nialignant hate, not in :ningl'i with fear. I3old1Vy I returned his gaze. I was tempted to walk right up to hi:m and14 ask him what he had been udoing in the park, and why he had warned Iis mate away w'hen he saw ie there. Yet I had no right to interfere. miss Bradford had not tiien ile into her confidence. I had only suspielons to go on that tite two men had been there to attempt somte1 wrong on tite girl. Slowly I left the restaurant, puzzled more titan ever by the malevolent glance ie had given me, and perplexed as to how I was going to serve Anst Bradford, whe she would not evei recognize me. CHAPTER MN. My great-aunt's pearls were gone stolen-vanished from tite wall safeI Still discrediting the evl(ence of m; own eyes, I lighted a match and pee, ed into the steel-lined recess. It wa riempty. On the table beside me wa one of the twQ jewel boxes it ha contained, the one filled with wortl less trinkets. The -other, which ha contained 'the prteless Gaston pearl and the o6ther -1ch treasure, Id Val Saturday. Six days b d 10 Ai had arrived in the apartmer te There had been two jewel cases the Is- With my own hands I had put the d both back safe in their hiding pla< s. I recalled having tested the knob make sure that the combination it as set. Yet since that time someone hi . opened the safe. Someone had I m moved the jewels. Who could it ha n- been? as To the best of my knowledge the ce had been but two persons in t iy rooms, old Mrs. Burke, my aun Iy trusted laundress, and myself. C ny tainly I had not taken the jewels, a or it seemed absurd to suspect M rd Burce, who had been in Mrs. Gasto1 go employ for years and had long be entrusted with a key to tie servni er entrance. Yet who else was there rl, suspect? s- Recovering a little from my ber ag derment I hastened to the telephol I must notify the superintendent a he also tle police that the apatment I st. been robbed. I decided, too, thait j- should wire my greatimele Itufus rt- the robbery, and then it dawned me for the first time that I did 1 %or know the old couple's address. TI a merely had sald that they were go to AMaine. Never mindl, there v nothintg that they could (10 In ti "If absence. Probably I could get Ut me1 add~ress fronm the superintendlent, from Mir. Gaston's baitkers. The f thing to do was to notify the sui tor intendent. Ier But wait! With my hand on site telephone, I stopped short. It dan en- ed on me thtat in all likelihoodl I we two be0 the one mtost undter suspion. the If detectives were called in. I ec ant see that thteir first move would ht nra lay the theft to niy door. Thtey w< ary investigate everythting about mte, emi- I remtembered with distress thtal mik, Spalding Nelson, just nowv was ou t I a job-and far worse, stood disert was ed at thte~oniy place of employmne had had had in Newv York. ighit Miy dischtarge had come that lung morning like a thutndlerboit out itigh clear sky. Thte reason for my nlh emtptory dismiissal I had not been ning to fathtom. In some1 mysterious f ure, Iion my employer's wrath hadI Ito roused toward me, Whty, I could ~hite inmgine. Certainly my life, espec t to ,ince my two comrades had~ 10 a away, had been circumspect enr t to Even thtough.I was living it a si she thousand-dollar apartment I was co-employed, all but penniloss, just 1I as cently diismnissedi for somo unexph otor. reason, and nowv more thtan likel i mie be accused or at least suispecte thieft f the Yet only this very morning I been taking an optimistic view of Mir. Delighted at having cut my livin hear penses i two, I had decided tQ twice ,(Continued on 'Page NIne.) OUDLE4'>bRDAST D IN THE EXECUTION OF A DOUBLE-BREAST ED MODEL, THE FASHION PARK DE SIGNING ROOMS HAVE GIVEN FIRST ATTENTION TO THE BREADTH AND RISE OF THE SHOULDERS. k4Q5 1" THE GARMENT BALANCES> ADMIR /IBLY, AND EN JOYS TI-E FREE, ENCAG ING ASPECT FHICH RE CEIVES GENUINE RESPECT. ILY' I THE COPYRIGHTED HY LINE SHOULDER TREAT MENT HAS BEEN SUC CESSFULLY INTRODUCED. CUSTOM SER'UICI IEt'I TJIO UT Tl A'NOYANCE OF A TRY-ON READY- TO-PUT- ON 7A Af Af on ,Vrcss, 8s Peady / .TAILORED AT FASHION PARK Minter Co.'s Cash Department Store LAURENS, S. C. d V.. Ti" iresfoth Smllr ar-. e. 0r ve re In using its immense resources and inventive lie$ skill to build the higyhest relative value pos to rie. 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